Gold Dust
by LugiaFanForever
Summary: When Stargia the Constellation Lugia stumbles across a mysterious set of buffers, she discovers quite the enchanting place!


Gold Dust

A short by LugiaFanForever

One evening, Stargia, Brawlgia, and Mew were sitting by the dock at Fisherman's Lake. Stargia and Brawlgia were chatting while Mew was playing in the lake, on her favorite flamingo float. Stargia was telling Brawlgia more about the other Constellation Lugias she used to know.

"...and then Androgia flew in out of nowhere and saved me from the three Goldeons!" Stargia said. "It was quite a close call."

"Indeed it was!" Brawlgia commented. "Those Goldeons sure got what they deserved."

"Much agreed." Stargia said. She then looked up to the stars, and her smile faded.

Brawlgia noticed Stargia seemed upset. "Is everything alright, my love?" He asked.

"I...I miss them." Stargia said quietly. "I hope they're alright, wherever they ended up."

"I'm sure they're fine." Brawlgia assured. "They seem like such powerful and smart Lugias, nothing could ever stand in their way!"

"I sure hope so." Stargia said, still looking up.

Brawlgia looked over to Mew, who was jumping up and down on the float. "I'm going to go check on Mew." He said, before walking towards the water.

"Brawlgia, wait!" Stargia said suddenly.

Brawlgia turned around. "What is it?" He said camly.

"I'm going to go for a quick flight." Stargia replied. "I feel like some fresh air would do me good."

"Right-o." Brawlgia replied. "Have fun!"

Stargia stood up, and took off into the night sky. It wasn't long before she was way high up into the sky, looking down on the many sights below. Stargia lit up her golden scales in the night sky, which gave off a very soothing gold and blue hue. She continued to fly for some time, then right before she started to pass over the Lugia Lands, she turned to her right, as something caught her eye. Below her was a strange looking set of rails, hidden behind a few bushes.

"Hmm. I've never noticed that." Stargia said.

She then turned around and started to descend towards the rails, landing right in front of them. She started to walk alongside them, until they led straight into a large, tall bush. Being a cautious Lugia, Stargia looked all around her before pushing through the bush. On the other side, the rails ended at a set of buffers, which looked like they hadn't been used for ages.

"How strange." Stargia said, a bit nervous.

She walked up to the buffers, and as she got closer, her scales began to glow brighter and brighter. Startled by this, she stepped back.

"How...how is this possible?" She said. "My scales have never done that before."

Stargia stood there for a bit, until finally deciding to pluck up courage.

"Here...here goes nothing..." She said as she walked closer to the buffers.

Here scales glowed brighter than ever as she walked even closer, until she stopped right before the buffers. She reached out and touched them, and her scales lit up the entire woods. It was almost like it was daytime!

This caused Stargia to suddenly cower down in fear, and shut her eyes tight. A few minutes passed before she decided to open her eyes. What she saw was quite a sight.

Stargia was now inside a very long, dark tunnel. It seemed like it went on forever. The rails were still there, and they ran down the tunnel, but this time they were shimmering, golden rails. Alongside them were piles of glowing leaves, which glowed in every color of the rainbow. Stargia forgot to be scared and was amazed at the sight. She stood up, and then took off flying down the tunnel. A nice, warm air brushed over her as she flew.

"This...this is so beautiful." She said, smiling. "How could I not have noticed this hidden gem before?"

Then, Stargia saw a bright white light at the end of the tunnel. She smiled as she got closer, and closer, until the light was so bright, all Stargia could see was white all around here. Then a sound of a locomotive's whistle could be heard, then the light faded, and Stargia was even more amazed.

She was now in a large countryside, with hills of bright green grass, and small glowing golden dust that blew through the grass itself. The sky was a very 'true blue' color, which seemed to slowly change in tone. Millions of multicolored confetti-like things blew across the rails. Stargia looked in the distance and saw what looked like a mountain, far away. There were also several rivers with crystal clear, sparkling water. Stargia had never been so amazed. The whole place even seemed to be glowing in a light golden color.

Stargia landed by the rails, and her eyes were glued. She could not stop looking all over the place, amazed. But then, she suddenly heard a shrill whistle, and looked forward. Puffing down the rails was a pinkish-purplish steam engine, with golden pinstripes, and smokebox. It had the words "Lady" painted in golden, cursive letters on either side of it. What surprised Stargia the most was that the engine had a face on the front of its smokebox. She had never seen anything like that before.

"Who...who are you?" Stargia asked, a bit nervous. "Where is this place?"

The engine smiled. "My name is Lady." She said. "This is the Magic Railroad."

"What's the Magic Railroad?" Stargia asked. "I don't remember ever hearing about Cumulus having a railroad."

"Maybe so, but not anymore!" Said a voice. A man wearing a brown leather coat stepped out of Lady's cab, and walked over to Stargia.

"Hello." The man said. "My name is Burnett Stone, the 'keeper' of the Magic Railroad, so to speak. I am also Lady's caretaker. Who are you?"

"My name is Stargia, nice to meet you both." Stargia said kindly. "I am a Constellation Lugia from Cumulus Island."

"Indeed." Burnett said. "I see you finally found our portal we assigned."

"An assigned portal?" Stargia asked, confused. "What do you mean?"

Burnett smiled. "A long time ago, when the Magic Railroad was very, very new, it was very low on Gold Dust, which is needed to keep it alive. Gold Dust is a magical and enchanted substance that very few beings are ever born or created with. We needed as much Gold Dust as we could to keep the Magic Railroad alive, so with the little Gold Dust we had, we were luckily able to open several portals across many universes that contained a being that had the power to use Gold Dust."

Lady then cut in. "And Stargia, you were one of these beings, which is why a portal was opened on Cumulus Island, in hope you would find it and come here."

"And luckily you have." Burnett said.

Stargia was worried. "I'm not too late... right? I'm sorry if I couldn't make it here in time." She said.

Burnett smiled. "No worries, Stargia. Luckily, several beings that possessed Gold Dust found the portals rather quickly, and they came here and were happy to lend a hand to keep the Magic Railroad alive."

Stargia's eyes widened. "What kinds of places did you assign portals to?" She asked.

"Many!" Burnett said. "Sodor, Bigg City, The Big Harbor, Ultra Space, Cyber Space, and one other place with talking horses that I can't remember the name of."

"And of course, Cumulus." Lady said.

Stargia was confused. "I have Gold Dust abilities?" She asked. "I never knew about that before."

"Of course!" Burnett said. "How else would you have been able to come here? Also, have those gold scales of yours ever lit up?"

"They have indeed." Stargia replied. "I can make them glow!"

"That's the Gold Dust in you!" Burnett said.

Stargia then remembered something. "Other Constellation Lugias like me have gold scales too. Does that mean they also have Gold Dust abilities?"

"That I am unsure about." Burnett replied. "Something being gold in color does not always mean they have Gold Dust abilities."

"Indeed." Lady added. "Also, are there are more of your kind? We didn't know about that."

Stargia then told them about her past and how her home planet, Celestryia, was nearly destroyed. When she finished, Burnett and Lady's smiles disappeared.

"I'm...I'm so sorry that happened to you." Burnett said.

"Me too." Lady said. "Nobody should ever have to go through something like that."

"May I ask you a question?" Burnett asked.

Stargia smiled. "Of course."

"Do you know if your friends and leader are still alive?" Burnett asked.

"I have no idea." Stargia replied. "I sure hope they're all right, wherever they ended up."

"I do as well." Burnett said with a nod.

"So, what is it like to live in a place like this?" Stargia asked.

"Well, we don't actually live here." Lady said.

"Yes, we live in a place called Shining Time." Burnett said.

"What's it like in Shining Time?" Stargia asked, curious.

"Well, everything can be described as "normal," meaning very little magical or enchanted things exist there. Me and Lady are the only magical things that could ever exist there." Burnett said.

"And with that, we have to stay hidden." Lady said. "If anyone there ever found out about us, we'd be through."

"How do you stay hidden?" Stargia asked.

"We live inside a secret cave in Muffle Mountain, which is a mountain nearby Shining Time. It's not very often that people go there, so we don't have to worry about much." Burnett answered.

Stargia then got an idea. "If you want, you could come back to Cumulus with me and my friends, and you could live there! Everyone is very accepting there." She said.

Burnett and Lady smiled.

"Thank you, Stargia. Thank you very much. But we could never leave our home behind, we've been living there for as long as we can remember!" Lady said.

"Indeed." Burnett said. "But thank you very much."

Suddenly, Stargia's eyes shot wide open. She had forgotten about Brawlgia and Mew!

"Oh goodness!" Stargia cried out. "I completely forgot!"

"Forgot about what?" Burnett asked.

"Brawlgia and Mew, my family!" Stargia said. I told them I was going out for a flight, then I found the Magic Railroad and I forgot about them!"

"Oh dear!" Lady exclaimed. "They're probably worried sick!"

"Right!" Burnett said. "Well Stargia, it was a pleasure meeting and talking to you, but you should probably head home."

"Yes, certainly." Lady added.

Stargia hesitated for a few seconds, then she spoke.

"Will I ever see you again?" Stargia asked, nervous.

"Oh, of course!" Burnett said. "Just head through the buffers whenever you want!"

"Yes, come by anytime!" Lady said.

"Thank you!" Stargia said. She then flew up.

"Goodbye, Stargia!" Burnett called out. "See you again soon!"

"Bye, Stargia!" Lady called out.

"Goodbye!" Stargia called out. She then turned around and flew back through the tunnel, and before she even knew it, she was back at the buffers again.

"Here goes nothing." Stargia said. She touched the buffers, and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she found herself back in the woods where she started! Stargia then looked to the sky. It was a while after dawn, and the sun was starting to come up.

"Better head home." Stargia said, as she took off.

The End


End file.
